The Hockey Hall of Fame has asked players to stop doing keg stands from the Stanley Cup

AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

Alex Ovechkin holding the Stanley Cup trophy.

• The Hockey Hall of Fame has asked players to stop doing keg stands out of the Stanley Cup. 
• Several Capitals players, including captain Alex Ovechkin, forward Tom Wilson, and defenseman Brooks Orpik celebrated their Stanley Cup win in June by using the 126-year-old trophy for keg stands.
• The Hockey Hall of Fame is worried that the move, which requires players to be held upside down to drink out of the trophy's bowl while gripping its rim, could cause damage.

The Hockey Hall of Fame has asked NHL players to stop doing keg stands out of the Stanley Cup after the Washington Capitals popularized the celebration.

Several Capitals players, including captain Alex Ovechkin, forward Tom Wilson, and defenseman Brooks Orpik celebrated their Stanley Cup win in June by using the 126-year-old trophy for keg stands.

But the Hockey Hall of Fame is worried that the move, which requires players to be held upside down to drink out of the trophy's bowl while gripping its rim, could cause damage.

"I have nothing against keg stands," Hockey Hall of Fame vice president Phil Pritchard told USA TODAY Sports. "My goal is only to preserve the Stanley Cup. If they could do keg stands without grabbing the Cup, then great. But if you put weight on it, then it will affect the Cup."

While the trophy has traveled to 25 countries, swam in the bottom of Mario Lemieux's pool, and been used as a baptismal font and a receptacle for a newborn child, it had never been used for keg stands until this year's Washington Capitals came along, Hall of Fame officials told The Washington Post.

"[Keg stands] haven't really been that popular in the hockey world, I guess," Pritchard, who has been taking care of the cup for the last three decades, said.

Pritchard said there are no hard and fast rules for what players can and can't do with the cup, but he said he asks that they be respectful to the trophy, the game and its history.

And despite the keg stands - or trophy stands - Pritchard said the Capitals players have been nothing but respectful while aggressively partying with the Stanley Cup this summer.

"We've just finished with the Washington Capitals staff and players and the guys have been unbelievable," Pritchard said. "Every one of them. They get it, but they are having fun. From the time Alex Ovechkin showed every emotion on the ice when they won until yesterday when Alex Chiasson was the last player, they've been awesome."